If the mere mention of the word bagpipe causes your mind to wander off to the windswept Scottish Highlands, hang on! There's a group of passionate bagpipe campaigners on a quest to show there's more to the pipes than playing on the heath in a kilt.

Russia is proud of being out in front of other countries. But on one measure, it might not be quite so proud. It has more police per citizen than any other country tracked by the UN. Meanwhile, the Loch Ness monster is back in the news after 18 months without a peep. And a 100-year-old woman has a long-held dream come true and it gives her shivers. All that and more in today's Global Scan.

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine sat down for peace talks on Tuesday, even as their respective armies continued to fight along the Russian-Ukrainian border. Ukraine believes that it's close to military victory over pro-Russian separatists, but an influx of Russian soldiers may change that.

At a recent organized reunion, some North and South Koreans found family members they had not seen since the Korean War. A Reuter's photographer was there. Parliamentarians in Ukraine struck blows — literally — against a free press, when they attacked a news manager over coverage. And Spain gets ready to release a bumper crop of wine, all in today's Global Scan.

Secretary of State John Kerry charmed Indonesian students in Jakarta over the weekend as he delivered strongly-worded messages on climate change to Asia's leading emitters of greenhouse gases. Italy works to form its third government in three years, without a new election. And German politicians sleep in their offices to save on rent, all in today's Global Scan.

Ukraine, a former Soviet Bloc country, is torn between its deep economic and cultural ties with Russia and its desire to modernize by becoming part of the European Union. When its president chose to draw closer to Russia over the EU, some Ukrainians applauded, while others took to the streets.

Updated

11/20/2013 - 10:00pm

The man who shot JFK in Dallas — Lee Harvey Oswald — first defected to the former Soviet Union and worked in a factory in Minsk. He married there and was under the watchful eye of Soviet intelligence, before he decided to return to the US. His former co-workers remember him fondly and refuse to believe he shot President Kennedy.

Ukraine, a former Soviet Bloc country, is torn between its deep economic and cultural ties with Russia and its desire to modernize by becoming part of the European Union. When its president chose to draw closer to Russia over the EU, some Ukrainians applauded, while others took to the streets.

Secretary of State John Kerry charmed Indonesian students in Jakarta over the weekend as he delivered strongly-worded messages on climate change to Asia's leading emitters of greenhouse gases. Italy works to form its third government in three years, without a new election. And German politicians sleep in their offices to save on rent, all in today's Global Scan.

At a recent organized reunion, some North and South Koreans found family members they had not seen since the Korean War. A Reuter's photographer was there. Parliamentarians in Ukraine struck blows — literally — against a free press, when they attacked a news manager over coverage. And Spain gets ready to release a bumper crop of wine, all in today's Global Scan.

The presidents of Russia and Ukraine sat down for peace talks on Tuesday, even as their respective armies continued to fight along the Russian-Ukrainian border. Ukraine believes that it's close to military victory over pro-Russian separatists, but an influx of Russian soldiers may change that.

The World's Clark Boyd reports on governments that have found various ways to block citizens' access to internet sites; this web filtering is described in a new book, "Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering".

Russia is proud of being out in front of other countries. But on one measure, it might not be quite so proud. It has more police per citizen than any other country tracked by the UN. Meanwhile, the Loch Ness monster is back in the news after 18 months without a peep. And a 100-year-old woman has a long-held dream come true and it gives her shivers. All that and more in today's Global Scan.

If the mere mention of the word bagpipe causes your mind to wander off to the windswept Scottish Highlands, hang on! There's a group of passionate bagpipe campaigners on a quest to show there's more to the pipes than playing on the heath in a kilt.

Russia is proud of being out in front of other countries. But on one measure, it might not be quite so proud. It has more police per citizen than any other country tracked by the UN. Meanwhile, the Loch Ness monster is back in the news after 18 months without a peep. And a 100-year-old woman has a long-held dream come true and it gives her shivers. All that and more in today's Global Scan.

Updated

11/20/2013 - 10:00pm

The man who shot JFK in Dallas — Lee Harvey Oswald — first defected to the former Soviet Union and worked in a factory in Minsk. He married there and was under the watchful eye of Soviet intelligence, before he decided to return to the US. His former co-workers remember him fondly and refuse to believe he shot President Kennedy.

Ukraine, a former Soviet Bloc country, is torn between its deep economic and cultural ties with Russia and its desire to modernize by becoming part of the European Union. When its president chose to draw closer to Russia over the EU, some Ukrainians applauded, while others took to the streets.

At a recent organized reunion, some North and South Koreans found family members they had not seen since the Korean War. A Reuter's photographer was there. Parliamentarians in Ukraine struck blows — literally — against a free press, when they attacked a news manager over coverage. And Spain gets ready to release a bumper crop of wine, all in today's Global Scan.

There's been no end to the ongoing disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. And Yuriy Humber has a unique perspective. He's been reporting on the Fukushima meltdown for Bloomberg News in Tokyo and also lived through the Chernobyl disaster.